LP – Indies Exclusive Limited 50th Anniversary Edition White Vinyl.

Second album from the French space rock electro combo. Here, Heldon mastermind Richard Pinhas has formed a duo with Georges Grunblatt. The music: an interplay of feather-light acoustic guitars, Mellotron textures, fuzzy sounds and heavy, spherical synthesizers.

Before making his own music in the early 70s, Richard Pinhas was a King Crimson fan. By now the British group has buzzed in Pinhas mind for decades, but their greatest impact came early, from something he couldnt even identify immediately. When he first saw them play, Pinhas was struck by music played during intermission. When I saw (King Crimson guitarist) Robert Fripp and Brian Eno perform in Paris later, I realized that the intermission music was their work, Pinhas said. I didnt know that when I first heard it, but I was very impressed by it. It was the most important influence on Heldon.

That influence is clear on the second Heldon album, Allez-Teia, originally released in 1975 on Pinhass own Disjuncta label. The opening song, a soaring mix of string-like electronics and smeared guitar, is called In the Wake of King Fripp, a reference both to the guitarist and King Crimsons second album In the Wake of Poseidon. The meditative Omar Diop Blondin, in which free tones float above a repetitive guitar figure, is dedicated to Fripp and Eno. (Strong influence also comes from The Soft Machines Robert Wyatt, who was slated to record some tracks with Pinhas for Allez-Teia until the expense of his travel from London to Paris proved prohibitive.

Yet Allez-Teia whose title is a nod to aletheia, the ancient Greek term for philosophical truth is hardly a tribute album. The pieces Pinhas crafts with partner Georges Grunblatt both playing guitar, Mellotron, and ARP synths are beatific on the surface but infused with undercurrents of tension.

Over four decades after he made Allez-Teia, Pinhass admiration for King Crimson remains profound. He actually met Fripp in 1974, and the two still stay in touch. We have a great friendship; he has been very helpful, says Pinhas. Fripp has always been my Hendrix. Some artists might balk at admitting such strong influence over their own work, but for Pinhas its all about respect. In the academic world in France, you list your sources, says Pinhas, who received a Ph.D in philosophy before launching his music career. So I thought it was good to say, Yes, we are influenced by this, and we are proud of it, and people have to know it. The work of King Crimson at that time was very important. Its not a secret.

Tracklist:

A1. In The Wake Of King Fripp
A2. Aphanisis
A3. Omar Diop Blondin
A4. Moebius

B1. Fluence (Continuum Mobile/Disjonction Inclusive)
B2. St Mikael Samstag Abends
B3. Michel Ettori